the great bathrobe debacle.

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so it’s moral dilemma week here at broke207, and for this one, i need your help. a few weeks ago, i was offered an opportunity for my first sponsored giveaway. i would receive some sort of swag package including 2 free coupons for the product, and i would potentially write a review about the product (although they did make it clear that this was not required), and then host a giveaway where the winner would get the same swag package that i received. they would even send out the goods, making the experience for me totally free. as you can imagine, i was pretty psyched.

when i found out that the promotion was for a new variety of greek yogurt, i was both excited and relieved, because i would never host a giveaway for a product that i wouldn’t use. finally, something not for babies or covered in meat!! things continued to get better. on saturday, i came home to a sizeable brown box that contained not just a plush white bathrobe, but also slippers and some sort of crazy loofah mitt, and some other massagey bathtime jazz. swank. and of course, two coupons for free yogurt.

here is where things really started to unravel. i hit the grocery store this sunday, and grabbed myself a couple of yogurts as was the plan. on a whim, i was curious to see how this more commercial brand stacked up to my other beloved health food store choices. ummmm… what’s that? there was an unexpected guest on the ingredient list (when i was really only expecting the standard milk & enzymes), GELATIN. first pop tarts, now greek yogurt? what the F america? can things please just not have meat in them unless they’re MEAT?

well, i wrote a nice note to the promotion company telling them that i wouldn’t be able to host the giveaway because i could not test the product, and that i also did not feel comfortable hosting a giveaway for a product that contained meat. vegetarianism is a very personal thing for me. that said, i think people should eat what they want to eat, and i would never use this blog as an platform to try to proselytize anyone over to my meat free ways. then again, i will also edit meat products from my content. you will never see me pointing and waving at really great lunch meat coupons, talking about the great leather deals at mardens, or cooking with marshmallows. you just won’t.

therein lies the dilemma. the nice lady at the promotion company told me that i was “under no obligation to post about the product” (i think that means i can keep the robe), but that i could still host the giveaway if i so desired. so now what?

option A: keep the robe, and conduct the giveaway anyway because my meat eating readership would like it.

option B: keep the robe because i did have every intention of hosting the giveaway before the gelatin realization, but not host the giveaway because it goes against my personal beliefs.

option C: don’t host the giveaway and send the robe back because it’s not fair for me to keep it if i don’t host the giveaway.

option D: don’t host the sponsored giveaway, but give away the robe that i received (still hermetically sealed, i promise!) because i totally forgot to host a giveaway this month and it would be fun (and i would never have to mention the offending product).

option E: the “let’s make a deal” approach – host a giveaway with the option of the bathrobe (for your veggie-conscious readers) or the product giveaway (for your omnivorous followers). if the winner chooses door #1, you can donate the product (if possible?); if door #2, you get to keep the bathrobe for all your hard work.
(hoping this makes sense – we didn’t get a lot of quality sleep last night, and the grey cells may not all be firing in unison…)
but it also comes down to how comfortable you would feel if door #2 was chosen – i would never ask anyone to do something that they were uncomfortable with. (either way, i agree w/ WinnieP – you should not have to pay to send the swag back…)

option E is really just option A split up into 2 categories? the real moral debate here is whether or not i want to pimp a product that contains meat products. at all. i’m torn, the coupon goddess has an excellent point. but there is a part of me that would still feel like i’m compromising my personal ethics. but then again, is it fair to impose my personal ethics on my reader base? aaaaaaaaaaaaah. this is making my brain hurt.

Did you read the review that I wrote for Dr. Oetker’s pizza? It was not a favorable review. If they contacted me again and offered a giveaway for my readers, I’d still host it. Just because something is not right for me does not mean it wouldn’t be right for my readers. Judging by my marshmallow laden recipe I posted today, gelatin is not an issue for me. I would imagine that many of your readers are carnivores and would enjoy the type of giveaway you are flirting with. In the end it’s up to you, but I’d keep in mind the interests of your readers. Just thinking outloud…..

you and your good points! i actually took that approach with my upliv system giveaway. sort of the “this is gross, but do you want it anyway?” angle, but this feels a little different. for example: money saving mom dropped a big xmas time jesus bomb on her website last year (and then turned off the comments), and it filled me with blinding rage. not because i think she shouldn’t love jesus/be devout, but because i didn’t think that it was appropriate for her to make her deal seeking blog a platform for her personal religious beliefs. i feel the same way about my vegetarianism. i’m absolutely not trying to convert anyone, and even if i was, using my budget blog would be inappropriate and a disservice to my readers. that said, i’m still conflicted about promoting products that go against my personal ethics. i mean, you would never see money saving mom pimping a porno giveaway, even though i’m sure she has readers that would enjoy it…. heh. thank you as always for your wise and thoughtful feedback!

i vote e: do whatever you want! i personally hate bathrobes, i’m more a tshirt and sweatpants kind of person. i do eat meat, but don’t think of you as a vegetarian blogger. i read you for the lulz. gelatin is pretty f’ing gross. my 70 yr old dad won’t eat it to this day, because when he was in his early 20’s he had to go into a jello factory to fix some machinery and saw them unloading the carcasses and shit they make it out of. hit the dudefest!!

i haven’t had a bathrobe in YEARS. i have a pair of men’s pajama pants that i refer to as my “weekend pants” that i put on as soon as i come home from work. maybe a bathrobe would be weird, but this dudefest angle is really making me want to keep it. i used to LOVE jello back in the day, and i didn’t have a fucking clue where it came from. in general, from vegetable farming to the slaughterhouse i feel like people need to be more aware of where their food comes from. i think people would make healthier choices if they had to see the hoof vat like your dad!

you know what? it’s ridiculous to put gelatin in yogurt. if they can’t make greek yougurt without it- eff em. so you should give away the robe (to me) so i can wear it to dudefest and get in halfprice. and you should keep your robe so YOU can wear it to dudefest. stick it to those animal-grinding yogurt-ignoramuses.

I’ve tried greek yogurt and didn’t like it. If I were you I’d keep the robe and do the yogurt giveaway if you want to. I love meat, but I don’t love horse hooves (after seeing the comment earlier about the Hairbo gummy bears…. ick!).

i like greek yogurt because it’s really firm and tart. regular yogurt is too… “loose” and it grosses me out. but i’m still not understanding why they had to put gelatin in there! normal greek yogurt is just milk & enzymes. how hard is that to fuck up? you know, i didn’t know that gelatin was made from hooves until i was in college. i had no ideal. shit is in everything too.

[…] go. myblogspark sweetly (and quickly) set me up with a secondary non-gelatin laden giveaway after the great bathrobe meltdown of 2010. kind thanks to them for providing me with something i feel good about pimping. i present to you: […]